Cal's ace in the hole / Defense flourishing under adjustments of coordinator Gregory

Maybe somebody is spiking the Gatorade of Cal's football opponents at halftime. The Bears have surrendered just 28 second-half points in their eight games, none in the last three weeks.

Barring foul play, the most plausible explanation is that defensive coordinator Bob Gregory is making halftime moves like a chess grandmaster. Well, at least like the card player he used to be at Washington State.

"He never studied in college," chuckled Ron Collins, his former roommate and fellow WSU defensive back. "He played cards. He's a big-time cribbage player. We played every night."

A couple of decades later, both are defensive coordinators for bowl-bound teams: Gregory, whose Cal tacklers figure to fatten their already impressive statistics at Washington today, and Collins, whose 14th-ranked Boise State plays this morning at San Jose State.

Gregory's defense is ranked 13th nationally in yardage and ninth in points. Given how far the Bears have come since 2001, when they gave up yards and points in bulk loads, you'd have to wonder if Gregory is a genius at the chalkboard, especially at halftime.

"Absolutely not," he said with a laugh. "There are no geniuses here, just a lot of young guys who believe in what we're trying to do. If I was that smart, I'd be in the chemistry department."

GREGORY_146.jpg_
Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. All season, Cal's defense has been strong, and the last two games, they've shut out the opposition.
By Lance Iversen/San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Sports#Sports#Chronicle#11/13/2004#ALL#5star##0422452769 less

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Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. All season, Cal's defense has been strong, and the last two games, they've shut out the opposition.
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Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. All season, Cal's defense has been strong, and the last two games, they've shut out the opposition.
By Lance Iversen/San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Sports#Sports#Chronicle#11/13/2004#ALL#5star##0422452769 less

GREGORY_146.jpg_
Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. All season, Cal's defense has been strong, and the last two games, they've shut out the opposition.
By Lance Iversen/San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY ... more

Photo: Lance Iversen

Cal's ace in the hole / Defense flourishing under adjustments of coordinator Gregory

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He's smart enough that head coach Jeff Tedford, whose strategic strength is on offense, gave Gregory the keys to the defense two years ago and checks in now and then to listen to the engine purr.

The purr was more of croak in the first half of the Oregon game last week. The Ducks scored three touchdowns in 2 1/2 minutes in the first quarter and led 27-14 late in the second quarter. But they mustered just 57 total yards and no points in the second half, and Cal eked out a 28-27 win, with the help of a key dropped pass.

Gregory ordered more man-to-man coverage and more blitzes, but mostly he pushed the right motivational buttons. "To be honest with you, this was the first time he really got fired up," said safety Ryan Gutierrez, the team's leading tackler. "He's usually very even keeled. When he got fired up, the players followed suit."

Gutierrez, one of the holdovers from the Tom Holmoe regime, added, "I don't want to say anything bad about the former staff, but coaches would have been yelling at players, and players would have been yelling at coaches. The difference now is that nobody doubts ourselves."

Gregory is so meticulous in his planning that, while on the staff at Willamette University in Oregon, he compiled a notebook on "press coverage," or bump-and-run techniques for defensive backs. It was 1 1/2 inches thick.

"What's the big deal with that?" said Dan Hawkins, his boss at Willamette and later at Boise. "Well, there are a ton of ways to do it, way more than a casual fan would know.

"I don't know that I've ever seen anybody work harder in coaching. I don't care what time you get to work -- his car is always there before you."

But Hawkins says Gregory's main asset is his ability to get athletes to play hard without being an ogre. "He makes kids feel good about themselves. Some coaches say, 'We need somebody bigger or stronger.' He's not like that. He'll take the players he has and make them better."

Gregory's parents were teachers, although his father left teaching to start his own physical education equipment company in Spokane, Wash. Bob was one of five children, all adopted.

He walked on at Washington State and played linebacker and defensive back. In 1986, the Cougars beat USC (34-14) for the first time in 29 years. Teammate Collins said Gregory "was talking a lot of smack to their offensive line."

Don't believe it, says Gregory. "I wasn't good enough to trash-talk. I was just trying to figure out where to line up."

Gregory and Collins lived in a Pullman apartment that, according to a third roommate, "was an absolute pigsty." Former Chronicle sportswriter Tim Keown, now with ESPN the Magazine, said, "When we ran out of dishes, we'd eat out of the can. Once a month we'd clean up."

Gregory grew up to be extremely meticulousness in his game plans, but Keown said, "I don't think it extended to housekeeping, at least not in those days."

Gregory responded, "Tell Tim Keown he still owes us $250 for rent. And he'd better pay up now that he's in the big time."

It may be only a matter of time before Gregory reaches the big time as a head coach. Could it happen in Berkeley?

"If Tedford leaves," Hawkins said, "they should get all over Bob Gregory. "

"My response to that," Gregory said, "is I hope coach Tedford and I are here at Cal for a lot of years."